Note: This story first appeared in Untold: Bible Stories Reimagined, an anthology of biblical fiction. While I used creative expression to fill in details, I stayed as true as possible to the biblical and historical data I found. I hope you enjoy the story of my favorite biblical couple, Priscilla and Aquila. If you haven’t read Part One, you can find it here.
Corinth ~ AD 51
“There is my Priscilla working hard again,” Aquila said as he stepped into the room. Prisca looked up with a smile. Eight years now, Aquila had been here; seven of those years as her husband. She had never imagined marriage could be so beautiful. Yet, Aquila seemed like the other part of her that had been missing.
Peter talked about marriage as a picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Prisca loved the picture. Aquila could never mean what Jesus Christ meant to her, but he loved her as faithfully as a human husband could. She found it easy to respect him and his leadership.
The last seven years had brought sadness, too. Malchus had gone to be with the Lord. Before he died, he had left the tent-making business to her. As she cared for him at his bedside, he had asked her, “Do you wish the business to be in your name only?”
In Rome, women often reserved their dowry and property for themselves. Divorce was common, and Roman fathers did not want their property lost. However, if marriage was a picture of Christ and His Church, Prisca knew she could hold nothing back. It must all belong to Christ. The same Christ she and Aquila happily served together.
She assured Malchus that what belonged to her must also belong to her husband. “We are one flesh, as the Lord God made Adam and Eve. And we are in the Body of Christ,” she explained.
Malchus gave her arm a gentle pat, “I thought you would say so. I see the love of Jesus in each of you, and I see your great love for each other. May God bless the business to use for His kingdom, and may your children use it for Him as well!”
Children. In their seven-year marriage, the Lord God had not sent any to Prisca’s womb. Roman women were often divorced for barrenness.
When tears or fear would come to Prisca, Aquila would quote Elkanah’s words from the Scriptures, “Am not I better to thee than ten sons?”
She would always smile, then whisper, “Yes, but am I to you?”
He would take her in his arms, reassuring her. “I would love for God to send us a son. But whether He does or does not, you are my bride. My love will stay constant as His love does.”
Then, two years earlier, Claudius expelled all Christians from Rome. Romans did not know what to think of this sect. Persecution had been part of life for many of the Way because they refused the pantheistic religion of Rome. Leaving their home had been difficult. The couple now lived in the seaside city of Corinth.
“I think you are daydreaming again,” Aquila bent to look into her eyes. He laughed as she startled and flushed, just as she had at their meeting eight years before.
“I met someone at the Jewish synagogue today. His name is Paul. He is also a tentmaker by trade and knows Peter well. His testimony of meeting Jesus was miraculous! Jesus came to him as he was persecuting those of the Way. He plans to stay in Corinth for a while to minister, so I offered to let him stay with us. Peter says he is an apostle.”
“It is wonderful to provide a home for one of the apostles! We can give him some of our work as long as he is here.”
Aquila gave a sheepish grin. “It is good you feel so, because that is probably his knock.”
Prisca laughed as he went to the door. “Last time that happened, God brought you to me. I wonder who He sends this time.”
Aquila shrugged. “Time will tell, I suppose.”
~~~~~~~
As time went on, Prisca and Aquila spent much time with the apostle. They learned to love his zeal for the things of God. When he was not stitching tents with them, he was out preaching. If he was at home when they finished work for the day, he was writing. Always writing.
They opened a church in their house for the ever-growing group of believers in Corinth. These people came to the Way from pagan temples and Jewish synagogues. Some, like Prisca and Aquila, had to leave their homes because of Claudius’ decree.
The three of them stayed busy making tents, sharing the Scriptures and Jesus’ words. Aquila loved to talk about the day the Holy Spirit began writing the Law on the hearts of men. Paul shared often about how, instead of arresting believers, Jesus had arrested him on the Damascus road. Malchus had schooled Prisca in the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings as if she had been his son. Peter told many stories of his time with Jesus to Malchus and her when they were together in Rome. She loved to share with the new believers both the Law and how Jesus fulfilled it.
One afternoon, the three of them were working together when they heard a loud commotion from the street. Aquila went to the window.
He turned back with a grave look on his face. “It is a large mob of people. I thought they were passing by, but it looks as if they are coming here.”
“Here?!” Prisca stood, dropping the goat skin she had been stitching.
Paul joined Aquila at the window. “Ah! I know those men,” he sighed. “They did not like my message this morning. If only they would open their eyes to the love of Jesus … but there, someone is pounding on the door.”
Aquila looked to Prisca with concern etched on his face. She followed him to the door.
They heard angry chanting, “Give us Paul! Give us Paul!” Prisca grasped Aquila’s arm in alarm. Just as he reached the door, it shook with the force of the pounding on the other side.
Aquila swung the door open and stood face-to-face with a burly man, his fist still extended. He stopped short of pounding Aquila’s face, then snarled, “Where is Paul?”
“Who seeks him?” Aquila asked calmly. Instead of answering, the man joined the crowd behind him, resuming their chant.
Aquila held up his hands. “Let us speak reasonably, friends!”
The man cursed. “We have nothing to say to the pagans of one God!” he spat on the ground at Aquila’s feet. As Aquila sent a silent prayer to the Lord God, he felt his wife’s grip loosen from his arm.
“Quick,” Prisca whispered to Paul in the next room. “You must leave.”
“I cannot leave my brother to stand alone!” Paul was determined when he had his mind made up. Prisca knew she must convince him but also do it quickly. She glanced over her shoulder to see Aquila raising his hands again. If anyone could calm the angry beasts, it would be her husband. As godly as he was, she was certain Paul’s words would only stir them further. Several of the men began to curse at once.
Prisca had not heard such words since she had lived with her stepfather. How quickly they transported her back! She could see his cruel eyes and her mother’s downcast eyes, doing nothing to defend her only daughter. No! She would not allow angry men to hurt those she loved.
Her silent prayer joined her husband’s as she spoke in a low, even tone. “God will be with my husband. They will not leave if they know you are here. You must go to one of our church families. Do not tell me where you go. I will help my husband protect you with my life, but I will not hurt our Lord by telling a lie for you.”
Paul was not easily persuaded in any matter. When he slipped out the window at Prisca’s urging, she knew the Holy Spirit was the One truly doing the persuading.
As soon as he was out the window, Prisca walked to the front door as if she had just noticed a riot was about to erupt at her door. Aquila felt her hand on his arm again. Then she was beside him.
She raised her chin as she looked into eyes like her stepfather’s. Fleetingly, she realized she now felt nothing of the hate and bitterness she had back then. “Paul is not here. We are Prisca and Aquila.”
When she spoke her husband’s name, the burly man in front sneered again. “Aquila, ha! What kind of power do you have against us?” The surrounding men laughed loudly. Everyone knew Rome had all the power, and the aquila symbol could only apply to the Emperor.
Aquila met the man’s gaze with a smile. “I have no power, Friend. The only power I know is the power of Jesus Christ. In His name, we have all we need.”
At the Name, Prisca watched the man’s attitude deflate. But a man behind him laughed derisively. “We are not your friends! And we are not friends of the pagan prophet, Paul!”
Prisca smiled at him sadly, “Then we will bother you no longer, sirs. May you find peace.” Before the riotous men or her husband knew what had happened, the door closed. Aquila’s arms came round her, and she lay her head against his pounding heart. They stood, listening for the men to resume their chants. But when they next looked out the window, the mob was gone.
Hearing a scraping sound near the back of the house, they steeled themselves for the men’s return. Instead, they saw Paul crawling back through the window.
“Have they gone?” he asked.
Prisca and Aquila did not ask where he had been or if he had even gone. “You are safe!” they cried at once.
Paul gripped both of their hands. “I am safe because of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and because of two dear friends. Now, where were we in our work? If the two of you will excuse me, I feel as if I must do some writing now.” The couple grinned at each other. When Aquila turned back to Paul to answer, he saw Paul was already scribbling on his parchment in the corner.
Thank you for reading! Find Part Three here.